There is a recognized need for improved personal security and emergency response capability. In situations where an individual is injured, lost, or abducted, immediate notification of an emergency situation to a local law enforcement or emergency response organization is required to maintain the safety of the individual and to avoid tragic circumstances.
Today's technology provides automatic identification of caller locations in emergency situations via wire line telephone companies. With this technology, a caller dials a 911 telephone number, and a computer accesses the caller's number in a street directory. This technology currently falls short in the case of wireless communications and in situations where there is no phone available. The importance of emergency response is demonstrated by the FCC mandate, in two phases, of Wireless 911 for the identification of a relevant public safety answering point. This mandate still falls short of necessary safety requirements in situations of abduction or kidnapping, physical or mental incapacitation, and other emergency situations remote from available wireless communications. These situations require a security and tracking apparatus that is not limited in range and is able to automatically identify the location of an individual in an emergency situation.
The prior art describes a variety of alarms and tracking systems, all of which suffer from at least two fundamental deficiencies. These systems are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,785, which describes a single signaling unit carried by an individual, object, or vehicle. If the signaling unit is separated from the individual, object, or vehicle, tracking is no longer possible and the system fails. Moreover, these systems fail to address the circumstances of individuals who are helpless in an emergency situation such as abduction or kidnapping, or physical or mental incapacitation.